. >>> but, first, president obama hit the road monday leaving the white house for a blue collar backdrop as he pushes for higher taxes on the wealthiest americans. >> the president's trip to michigan followed his closed door session with john boehner that had speculations swirling as the fiscal cliff deadline draws near. the very latest from washington. hi, karen. >> good morning, rob, good morning, paula. aides to president and john boehner say they're not going to do the fiscal cliff negotiation through the media and they're doing a really good job on trying to keep a tight lid on how the negotiations are going. outside detroit, president obama issued a warning of what may happen if middle class tax rates go up. if the nation heads over the fiscal cliff. >> consumer spending will go down. that means you've got less customers. businesses get fewer profits. they hire fewer workers. you go on a downward spiral. >> reporter: the president met with house speaker john boehner at the white house. their face-to-face meeting in three weeks. neither side would offer any details from the discussi